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There are a ton of benefits of video chat for photographers. It helps you be more efficient, it provides a lot of structure for meetings, and it helps you maintain a great work-life balance.
But, it also just helps you to better connect with your clients. As someone who genuinely loves meeting clients face to face for the first time, the pandemic was really hard on me. I hated trying to work with people virtually and video chat was the one thing that I think saved my business. It lets me still get to know my clients from afar.
However, I think that the four biggest benefits of video chat for photographers are that it saves you time and money, it prevents people from ghosting you, it keeps everyone on track, and it gives your business an edge.
It Saves Time and Money
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While there are tons of benefits of video chat, I personally think the two largest ones are that it saves time and money.
It saves you money because you don’t have to meet with clients in-person as often. This means that you can spend less money on gas and car insurance. It also means you can cut down on other travel expenses if you’re frequently traveling long distances to meet your clients.
It saves you time for the same reason. I get really frustrated driving around my city because it is so large. It can easily take me over an hour to drive to a coffee shop across town to meet a potential client. When I started using video chat for photographers, I found that I spent a lot less time in my car and was generally happier.
I also love using video chat for photographers because a lot of clients are late to meetings. If I’m sitting in my office, I can get other work done while I am waiting for them. This means I can actually get done at a reasonable hour, which provides me with a better work-life balance.
It Prevents Ghosting
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Well, it might not completely prevent ghosting, but it definitely cuts down on it.
When you use video chat for photographers, it makes it far easier for potential clients to show up to the meeting. This means that more clients are actually going to show up. As a photographer who has been in this business for decades, I’ve noticed that my potential clients have been showing up to our meet and greet far less often. This is not only a complete waste of time, but it is also a waste of money, since I could otherwise be working for a paying client.
Out of all of the video chat benefits, I think this one is my biggest priority. My time is valuable and if my potential clients don’t understand that, then the least I can do is make sure they waste less of my time by not showing up to our meetings.
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It Keeps Everyone on Track
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Depending upon the type of photography you’re doing, you’re likely working with some clients that require a ton of deliverables. It can be difficult to coordinate calendars. It can also be difficult to coordinate with other photographers, if the project requires more than one.
Video chat for photographers helps to keep everyone on the same page. Video chat for photographers does this by improving communication. Since people process visual information much faster than we process other information, face-to-face communication is always the most effective type of communication.
It also helps to cut down on miscommunication, especially in comparison with phone calls or texts. It is far easier to pay close attention to a meeting when that meeting is face-to-face. Video chat for photographers is one of the most important photography business tools I’ve ever used.
It Gives Your Business an Edge
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If you’ve read any of our photography business tips in our articles, then you know that we recommend photographers be on top of every new technology for their businesses. Video chat for photographers is just another technology that you should be using.
Younger people are going to be far more willing to work with your business if you meet them where they are. This means you should be using a live chat on your website, text messaging, and video chat.
This is especially important if you live in a really large city where everyone is already using video chat, or if you live in a really small city where nobody else is using it. It is going to give your business an advantage.
Podium Videochat Is Even Easier Than Other Platforms
If you’ve ever tried looking for video chat for photographers, then you were probably quickly disappointed with your options. In a year where everyone is exhausted of Zoom calls, the last thing you want to do is introduce that platform to your business. But, it seems like there are very few options for video chat for photography business.
Thankfully, Podium has introduced a video chat for photographers that is super simple to use. Podium videochat is a way for you to speak face-to-face with your clients, and potential clients, at the touch of a button. Whereas a Zoom meeting requires an email to send a link to your client, Podium videochat doesn’t require anything except a text.
If you’ve already discovered the other business software from Podium then you know that you’re likely already using it to text your clients. In this way, Podium videochat allows you to run your business so much more fluidly.
If you aren’t exactly understanding what a client wants, you can use Podium videochat. If you feel like your client is getting frustrated with you, then you can easily call them and clear the air.
Podium videochat also shortens your sales cycle. If you are the first person to respond to a potential client, then you are far more likely to get that sale. Podium videochat makes this easier than ever. You’ll never have to meet in-person with another potential client again.